Dounreay has given £750k to Caithness projects, new report shows
The redevelopment of John O’Groats Mill, new campsite facilities and repairs to the damaged harbour in Wick are among projects to have benefited from Dounreay funding this year.
More than three-quarters of a million pounds has been committed to community projects thanks to the ongoing decommissioning work at the former nuclear test facility.
The figure is revealed in a newly published report from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) which provides an overview of the group’s socio-economic commitments for the financial year 2023/24.
The project to bring the B-listed former corn mill at John O’Groats back into use as a heritage visitor attraction and community venue has been given £50,000 in the period as part of a £100,000 agreed package.
The £5.3 million project, led by John O’Groats Mill Trust, is funded by Heritage Lottery Fund (£1.6m), Scottish Government (£1.5m) and Historic Environment Scotland (£500,000), along with £250,000 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and other contributions from SSE Highland Sustainable Fund, Stroupster Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund, the Wolfson Foundation and the UK government’s Community Ownership Fund.
The Dounreay fund also committed £80,000 towards the redevelopment of accessible facilities at Wick River Campsite, which were recently opened by Lord Thurso.
Works to repair Wick Harbour walls, costing more than £1 million, are needed after damage from Storm Babet in October 2023. Dounreay is contributing £150,000 towards the project after gaps opened up in the stonework at the north pier harbour entrance.
The NDA says that the total socio-economic spend for 2023/24 from Dounreay is £754,404.
Other projects to receive funding include: the North Coast Visitor Centre (£75,000 of an overall £225,000 commitment); the Future Skills Apprenticeship scheme (Caithness Business Fund, £100,000); Rumster Outdoor Centre to create an outdoor classroom (£43,000); Focus North programme manager (£37,926 in 23/24); Caithness Chamber of Commerce business mentoring project (£35,000); Venture North destination management organisation (£34,595 in 23/24).
Jamie Reed, director of socio-economics at the NDA, states in the foreword to the report: “Over the last five years, we have invested over £60 million of direct socio-economic funding across the UK, leveraging millions of pounds of further investment from partners, to support significant projects that enable permanent and sustainable change in our site communities.
“In 2023/24, the NDA group invested £14.09 million of direct socio-economic funding. The NDA always believes that decommissioning activities should benefit local communities and that we must provide a positive legacy once our work is completed.
“We are immensely proud of our work with local communities to date and are very ambitious to make further progress.”
The full report can be seen at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nda-socio-economic-report-2023-to-2024
